Wheeled figure toy.



J.- B. HILL.

WHEELBD FIGURE TOY.

I APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1911. 1,008,822.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES Z' v COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH Co..wAsH|NGToN. D, c.

llomey Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

J. B. HILL.

WHEBLED PIGURBoTOY. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1911.

1 ,008,8'22. Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l WTNESSES ll NI/ENTOR ,f @L5 l c M @M 0U c2 @ww/,7 1,7 Amm,

JOI-IN'B. HILL, OF BLACKI-IAWK, COLORADO.

WHEELED FIGURE TOY.

1 ,ooasaa Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

Application led January 9, 1911. Serial No. 601,574.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. I-IILI., citizen of the United States,residing at Blackhawk, in the county of Gilpin and State of Colorado,have invented new and useful Improvements in Wheeled Figure Toys, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to wheeled figure toys such as comprise arocking body, sectional legs and cranks for actuating the body and legs;and it has for its object to provide a toy of the kind describedembodying means whereby motion is transmitted from ground wheelsdirectly to sectional legs and through the sectional legs to the rockingbody of aiigure in a manner calculated to make the igure closelysimulate the walking or trotting of a living animal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wheeled figure toyembodying such a construction that with' slight adjustment and the useof interchangeable parts, the figure may be changed from a walking ortrotting figure to a galloping figure and vice versa.

Vith the foregoing in mind the invention will be fully understood fromthe following description and claims when the same are read inconnection with the drawings, accompanying and forming part of thisspecification, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of my novel toy adjusted to enable theground wheels to move the legs and the body of the figure in a mannersimulating the corresponding movements of a walking or trotting animal.Fig. 2 is a detaill vertical section taken through the longitudinalcenter of the toy, and showing the toy without the front and rearrocking bars. Fig. 3 is a detail front elevation of the toy. Fig. A is adetail rear elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l,but showing the front and rear rocking bars removed, and the front andrear tie bars for connecting the front and rear legs together in pairs,in position.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, and more particularly to Figs.1 to 4c thereof: A is the body of the ligure' comprised in my novel toy.`B B are the forward sectional legs, hinged at a to the body. C C arethe rear sectional legs, hinged at b to the body, and D D arebail-shaped liguresupports disposed at opposite sides of the body of thefigure and having outwardly directed portions o which terminate independing end portions (l, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The body A of the gure is pivoted at e between the supports D, and thebody is preferably, though not necessarily, provided with loops whichloosely receive the inner upright portions of the supports. It will alsobe noticed that the body is provided with lateral studs g to limit itsrocking movement between the supports, and that the forward loops fserve for the attachment of a handle E by which the toy may be drawnalong the ground.

Fixed in and extending inward from the end portions CZ of the supports Dare short shafts F, and loosely mounted and secured in suitable manneron the said short shafts are the ground wheels Gr which are preferably,though not necessarily, equipped with rubber tires L. It will also benoticed by comparison of the figures that I extend a brace rod Hlongitudinally between the two shafts F at one side of the toy, and asimilar brace rod H between the two shafts F at the opposite side of thetoy, this in order to lend increased strength to the supports D. Each ofthe wheels G is provided with a hidden weight I, and each wheel is alsoprovided with an inwardly extending arm J, arranged oif the center ofthe'wheel and terminating'in an angular inner portion c'. The saidportion z' of each arm J is arranged in a suitable bearing j carried bythe lower section of one leg of the figure.

At this point I would have it understood that the weights I of thewheels G are so arranged relative to the arms J of said wheels that whenthe forward leg at one side of the toy is in a raised position, the rearleg at the same side of the toy will be in a lowered or extendedposition, and vice versa, and that when one forward leg is in raisedposition, the other forward leg will be in lowered or extended position,and that the same is true of the rear legs-z'. e., when one of thelatter is in raised position the other is inlowered or extendedposition. From this it follows that when the toy or rather the wheels Grthereof are placed on the ground, the wheels and the legs of the figurewill be in correct relative position to assure the figure simulating thewalking or trotting of an animal when the toy is drawn along; the ligurebeing made to simulate a walk when the toy is moved slowly, and tosimulate a trot when the toy is moved faster.

Mounted on forward and rear shafts K and L carried by the body A of theJfigure are transversely disposed, vertically rocking bars M, which aredetachably secured on the shafts by cotter pins N. The forward rockingbar has its end portions loosely arranged in eyes P on the uppersections of the forward legs B, while the rear rocking bar M has its endportions loosely arranged in eyes Q on the upper sections of the rearlegs C. Thus it will be seen that when one leg of either pair is movedupward, the other leg of said pair will, through the medium of theadjacent rocking bar M, be moved downward and vice versa.

Fixed to the forward and rear ends of the figure body A are wear platesR. These wear plates are designed to be engaged by the eye P shown atthe left of Fig. 3, and the eye Q shown at the right of Fig. 4 incidental to the movement of the toy, and the said eyes serve byalternately raising the opposite ends of the body A to a slight extent,to rock the said body and give the .figure a more natural appearance.

When it is desired to change the ligure from a walking or trottingfigure to a galloping ligure, the cotter pins N and the rocking bars Mare removed, and then the forward legs are arranged side by side as arealso the rear legs, after which a connecting pin S is arranged in alinedapertures T in the lower sections of the forward legs B, and a similarconnecting pin S is arranged in alined apertures T in the lower sectionsof the rear legs C. With the forward legs connected together and therear legs also connected together in, the manner described, it will bemanifest that the forwardlegs will move in concert as will also the rearlegs, and hence when the toy is drawn along the ligure will simulate agalloping animal.

To'change the toy from a galloping toy to a walking or trotting toy, itis simply necessary to remove the connecting pins S and then replace therocking bars M on the shafts K and L and in the eyes P and Q,respectively.

It will be gathered from the foregoing that notwithstanding my novel toyis calculated to excite the interest ofand amuse a child, the toy issimple and inexpensive in construction and may therefore be sold withprofit for a small price.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent, is:

1.[n a wheeled ligure toy, the combination of ground wheels; supportingmeans connected with and extending upward from the ground wheels; afigure comprising a longitudinally and vertically rocking body mountedon the supporting means, forward sectional legs connected to the rockingbody,

rear sectional legs connected to the rocking body, transversely-disposedvertically-rocking bars mounted'at the forward and rear ends of thebody, and eyes carried by the upper sections ofthe legs and looselyreceiving the end portions of sai'd transverse bars, one of said eyes ateach end of the toy being arranged to engage and raise one end of thebody to impart a rocking motion thereto; and means intermediate theground wheels and the sectional legs of the'ligure for actuatingl saidlegs.

9.. In a wheeled'ligure toy, the combina'- tion of forward ground wheelsand rear ground wheels, Veach having an inwardly extending arm olf its'center and also having a weight, the weights `and arms being sorelatively arranged that when the arm on one forward wheel is in itsupper position the rear arm at the same side of the toy will be in itslower position and vice versa, and when one forward arm is in its upperposition the other forward arm will be in its lower position, and whenone of the rear arms is in its raised position, the other rear arm willbe in its lower position; supporting means connected with and extendingupward from the ground wheels; and a figure comprising a longitudinallyand vertically rocking body mounted on the supporting means, forwardsectional legs connected to the rocking body and the arms on the forwardwheels, rear sectional legs connected to the rocking body and the armson the rear wheels, transversely-disposed vertically rocking barsmounted at the forward and rear ends of the body, Aand eyes carried bythe upper sections of the legs and loosely receiving the end portions ofsaid transverse bars, one of said eyes at each end of the toy beingarranged to engage and raise one end of the body to impart a rockingmotion thereto; and means intermediate the ground wheels and thesectional legs of the figure for actuating said legs.

3. In a wheeled ligure toy, the combination of forward ground wheels andrear ground wheels; a side support connected with one forward groundwheel and one rear ground wheel; a side support connected with the otherforward ground wheel and the other rear ground wheel; a figure having arocking body disposed between said side supports and pivoted thereto,whereby said body is enabled to rock vertically in the direction of itslength, and also having forward and rear sectional legs, the lowersection of each leg being connected with and actuatable by the adjacentground wheel; forward and rear transverse rocking bars mounted at theopposite ends of the ligure body; and eyes on the upper sections of thelegs loosely receiving the end portions of said rocking bars, one eye ateach end of the toy being arranged to engage and lift one end of theligure body to impart a rocking motion thereto.

4. In a wheeled figure toy, the combination of ground wheels; supportingmeans connected with and extending upward from the ground wheels; afigure comprising a longitudinally and vertically rocking body mountedon the supporting means, forward sectional legs connected to the rockingbody and each having a transverse aperture in its lower section, rearsectional legs connected to the rocking body and each having atransverse aperture in its lower section, transverselydisposedvertically rocking bars detachably mounted at the forward and rear endsof the body, eyes carried by the upper sections of the legs and looselyreceiving the end portions of said transverse bars, one of said eyes ateach end of the toy being arranged t-o engage and raise one end of thebody to impart a rocking motion thereto,

and transverse pins adapted to be removably arranged in the transverseapertures of the lower leg sections when the transverse rocking bars areremoved from the body, to convert the figureI from a walking or trottingfigure to a galloping figure; and means intermediate the ground wheelsand the sectional legs of the figure for actuating said legs.

5. In a wheeled figure toy, the combination of forward ground wheels andrear ground wheels; supporting means connected with and extending upwardfrom the wheels; a figure having a longitudinally and vertically rockingbody carried by said supporting means and also having forward and rearsectional legs, the lower section of each leg being connected with andactuatable by the adjacent ground wheels; forward and rear transverserocking barsmounted at the opposite ends of the figure body; and eyes onthe upper sections of the legs loosely receiving the end portions ofsaid rocking bars.

6. In a wheeled figure toy, the combination of forward ground wheels andrear ground wheels; supporting means connected with and extending upwardfrom the wheels; a figure having a body carried by said supporting meansand also having forward and rear sectional legs, the lower section ofeach leg being connected with and actuatable by the adjacent groundwheels; forward and rear transverse rocking bars mounted at the oppositeends of the figure body; and eyes on the upper sections of the legsloosely receiving the end portions of said rocking bars.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN B. HILL. Witnesses:

GEORGE E. FRITZ, WALTER F. JAMES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

